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  • amidar
    Lonely Jelly
    • Jun 2014
    • 3722

    #31
    Yeah those early 70's cheap organs are great for that grungy, cheap organ sound, love it. Most of my gear is rackmount but like yourself a lot of synth sounds are used with freeware vsti's I've found over the years or the stock stuff that comes with Cubase. My studio is pretty much dismantled at the moment for various reasons. So my current setup is very basic and quite freeing to be honest any external gear I tend to record live as audio for now.

    I have a ton of circuit bent digital gear from a previous obsession I like to play around with, noticed your mattel, always wanted to open one of those up. I think my favourites from that period are my Alesis SR16 drum machine and an old Akai Sampler I did. I worked my way up to that Akai with it being AC but it was a simple job to solder up a patch bay for it, I'd never sell it though too dangerous however It makes the most fantastical, glitchy noises from its test tone alone.

    Completely bowled over by your ownership of Rick Wakeman's old Mellotron though what a cool thing and a true piece of history!

    Originally posted by pgofton View Post
    Yeah, I was the same. I've had a lot of different synths and keyboards over the years and sort of traded my way up to the Mellotron, Wurlitzer EP, Moog and a couple of Rolands. I've had them for a while and I know them, and they do pretty much what I want. Would be nice to have a Jupiter or Modular or something, but really what else would it add? I had a few Crumars over the years. Like a lot of the cheaper synths they do one thing really well. I had a whole bunch like that (and still have a few smaller Casiotones and Portasounds) but just needed the space more than that one thing...

    The organ is an old italian portable, a Capri. Does that Farfisa thing absolutely fine.

    The Space Echo was £50, years ago. most of the other stuff wasn't that cheap, but got some good deals. The Mellotron was traded for a Mesa Boogie amp plus cash.

    Agree about the using stuff. funnily enough, they stuff that gets the most use ATM are the standard softsynths in Logic- been doing a bit of library/advert music, and they need to be flexible...
    Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

    Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

    Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

    Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

    Comment

    • pgofton
      Green Onions
      • Aug 2015
      • 67

      #32
      Originally posted by Xann View Post
      Ha - More interesting still! Any mods? What sounds did you get? Anything beyond the factory stuff?
      Default
      It's a funny one- Rick had the legs extended so he could play it standing up! The only sonic mod was a vernier pitch control, which just gives you slightly more control over the motor speed, so he could tune it a bit more accurately.

      Tapes were the 3x choirs, cello, flutes, and violins. You can still get them made so will definitely do that one day.

      Comment

      • pgofton
        Green Onions
        • Aug 2015
        • 67

        #33
        Originally posted by amidar View Post
        Yeah those early 70's cheap organs are great for that grungy, cheap organ sound, love it. Most of my gear is rackmount but like yourself a lot of synth sounds are used with freeware vsti's I've found over the years or the stock stuff that comes with Cubase. My studio is pretty much dismantled at the moment for various reasons. So my current setup is very basic and quite freeing to be honest any external gear I tend to record live as audio for now.

        I have a ton of circuit bent digital gear from a previous obsession I like to play around with, noticed your mattel, always wanted to open one of those up. I think my favourites from that period are my Alesis SR16 drum machine and an old Akai Sampler I did. I worked my way up to that Akai with it being AC but it was a simple job to solder up a patch bay for it, I'd never sell it though too dangerous however It makes the most fantastical, glitchy noises from its test tone alone.

        Completely bowled over by your ownership of Rick Wakeman's old Mellotron though what a cool thing and a true piece of history!
        its a cool thing to have. Moving it every year less cool though! Can't bring myself to part with it though.

        I've got a few sample packs with the Alesis, later Rolands on too, and use them regularly. I've accrued lot of analogue drum machines as I like the preprogrammed patterns, and tbh even though they're only gated white noise, each has their own character. The mattel has some nice sounds, and tunable, but v limited for most stuff.

        Comment

        • amidar
          Lonely Jelly
          • Jun 2014
          • 3722

          #34
          Yeah I have a huge pack of single shot drum samples separated into various folders of the drum machines they are from. The synsonic (think that's what they called it?) is in there, only 4 hits as I remember but a nice gritty fun 8 bit sound alongside everything from an '808' to a 'Bentley Rhythm Ace' and everything before and after. All mono but handy for a freeware drum machine I still use.
          Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

          Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

          Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

          Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

          Comment

          • Xann
            Ugly Custard
            • Jul 2009
            • 1052

            #35
            Originally posted by pgofton View Post
            ...legs extended so he could play it standing up! The only sonic mod was a vernier pitch control, which just gives you slightly more control over the motor speed, so he could tune it a bit more accurately. Tapes were the 3x choirs, cello, flutes, and violins...
            Nice. Would be cool item without the history

            Never had the chance to play with one, alas.

            It's on a list with the Yamaha CS-80 and Oberheim Xpander.

            Can't see the Stalacpipe Organ and T.O.N.T.O. happening tbh

            Comment

            • Xann
              Ugly Custard
              • Jul 2009
              • 1052

              #36
              Here's a nice synth...

              Comment

              • amidar
                Lonely Jelly
                • Jun 2014
                • 3722

                #37
                Your'e not wrong mate what I wouldn't do just to spend a day tweaking about with it and recording the results. I's hard not to talk in double-entendre when talking about synths!

                Originally posted by Xann View Post
                Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

                Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

                Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

                Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

                Comment

                • Xann
                  Ugly Custard
                  • Jul 2009
                  • 1052

                  #38
                  Originally posted by amidar View Post
                  ...spend a day tweaking about with it and recording the results...
                  It's one to get lost in.

                  Comment

                  • amidar
                    Lonely Jelly
                    • Jun 2014
                    • 3722

                    #39
                    Certainly is! A day faffing about with that would form the basis of a years worth of projects for me if not more. To be honest I'd not have much of a clue how it all worked but I'm sure I'd work out the basics. How do you value something that is that well built and engineered especially if it's been professionally maintained? I'm guessing his price is a starting point to get people with a serious interest to talk business and keep away the time wasters I don't know it's a thing of beauty though. I'd settle for an EMS Synthi or VCS 3 but I doubt that will happen any time soon.

                    It also comes complete with two 45s so vinyl related also!

                    I've been bought a raspberry pi 3 today alongside a case for it and one of these https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/piano-hat and the 'drumhat' oh and a hack board which I haven't got a clue about except it involves soldering but hoping it will enable me to have the drums and keyboard connected together or something else entirely (one of my stepsons said I would love it). I just know I need an sd card of some flavour to install an OS and I've been challenged to do a tune on it. I know it involves coding of some sort too so fun fun fun (I've not coded anything for years and my maths suck). I've been wanting to mess around with one for a while though so it will keep my head busy finding out musical things I can do with it.
                    Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

                    Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

                    Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

                    Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

                    Comment

                    • stylesforfree
                      Animated Egg
                      • Nov 2013
                      • 495

                      #40
                      Originally posted by Xann View Post
                      It's one to get lost in.

                      Oh myyyy, nice! sexy sounds.

                      Amidar, you made anything recently?

                      Here's something I done did over the past month....

                      Comment

                      • amidar
                        Lonely Jelly
                        • Jun 2014
                        • 3722

                        #41
                        Nice has a Portishead, Get Carter vibe to it, I like! I've had so much material from 2014-2016 I edited it down and created a series of long form pieces out of it all. It's all up on my Bandcamp for free although I had to edit down my favourite one so I uploaded in MP3 to mixcloud as well. It's all me in the main despite the made up band names and tracklist. :

                        Listen to the best DJs and radio presenters in the world for free.


                        Funnily enough 2-3 days ago was the first time I'd picked up a guitar in months!

                        They are all kind of influenced from this one I did a year or so ago along with trippy video.



                        All 5 are great to sleep to as are the 'Sleep Drones' I uploaded.

                        I also edited down the last net release I did as it was stupidly long and convoluted and probably still is but it took a bonkers amount of time to record and make that it became a 9-5 job at points so I got rid of tracks I didn't think offered anything to it's imaginary narrative and edited out parts in certain tracks and reordered it a little. I had a whole Lovecraft come Hammer Horror story in my head and I just got lost in it/lost it for about 12 months. More of a lofi mastering too which I like.



                        I've not been on Bandcamp long but I've put a lot up so I can draw a line under the last few years and move onto something new. I have no idea of what my next concept I can get lost in is despite a few ideas floating around in my head I just know I want the sound to move in a different direction. I saw your post about an imaginary soundtrack which sounds interesting.
                        Last edited by amidar; 21-03-2017, 04:33 PM.
                        Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

                        Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

                        Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

                        Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

                        Comment

                        • amidar
                          Lonely Jelly
                          • Jun 2014
                          • 3722

                          #42
                          I've dug out my old portable radio scanner and have been listening to the joys of old men talking a load of boring old tosh on their Ham Radio setups. I've learnt a lot about the new technology that links the hobby via software and nodes to their computers and the etiquette of using and talking via this system and unbeknownst to them recorded it all for future use.

                          Sadly my digital recorder ran out of power when 'Bob' was talking about how he thought 'Google Street View' worked live and the time he stopped in a lay-by looking around for the mysterious blurred man who wasn't there, spoken word gold and I missed it, gutted.
                          Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

                          Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

                          Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

                          Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

                          Comment

                          • stylesforfree
                            Animated Egg
                            • Nov 2013
                            • 495

                            #43
                            Originally posted by amidar View Post
                            I've dug out my old portable radio scanner and have been listening to the joys of old men talking a load of boring old tosh on their Ham Radio setups. I've learnt a lot about the new technology that links the hobby via software and nodes to their computers and the etiquette of using and talking via this system and unbeknownst to them recorded it all for future use.

                            Sadly my digital recorder ran out of power when 'Bob' was talking about how he thought 'Google Street View' worked live and the time he stopped in a lay-by looking around for the mysterious blurred man who wasn't there, spoken word gold and I missed it, gutted.
                            Hahahaha, AWESOME.

                            So The Blackcurrant Moon Foundation is you? brilliant sounds, I wish I could muster up more creativity, I love the way it sounds.

                            I have that funk 4/4 hard breakbeat mindset though, im working on some other bits and pieces at the moment but having listened to The Blackcurrant Moon Foundation and The Perpetual Vibrationary Principle, I feel like I need to start approaching music from a new angle, I do have a modular synth and a moog which I need to incorporate both a lot more.

                            What guitar do you use?

                            Edit:


                            Hang on.....Amitron_7 is you? and The Blackcurrant Moon Foundation is a collective?

                            Comment

                            • amidar
                              Lonely Jelly
                              • Jun 2014
                              • 3722

                              #44
                              Lol, Nope its both, I used to go under the one Amitron_7 moniker for a few years but now I've just been making up band names and playing make believe it's kind of sowing the seeds for something a bit larger but it's all me on me lonesome. I'm not sure where it's going yet it's sort of evolving on it's own.

                              I use a few guitars, an old strat copy and I wired in some 70's/80's Mexican Strat pickups which I use for that Knopfler like tone and it has the midi pick up on it which I rarely use to be fair. I have a 'Parker PM20' which I should play more because it plays beautifully. I have a 'Hohner Blackwidow' which is based on some 60's British guitar or something which is very small and great for my hands. I also use a 'Hohner G3T' alongside some cheap acoustics and Uke's.

                              The guitar I mainly use is a custom built SG made by some old guy in Manchester that I bought from Pre-Loved with the 'classic' 'Seymour Duncan' pickup configuration that I forget the names of, bit irrelevant as I only use the neck pickup. I'm bigging it up by saying custom as he'd basically just bought all the parts and put it together himself as a project but he did a very good job and used very good materials.

                              I've had various basses as that's what I used to play as my main instrument but now I just have an 'ashbory' rubber stringed thing which I do use occasionally but my main bass is a good quality Fender Jazz copy.

                              I want to get away from that strict tempo principle too which is hard when you're on your own. All those BCMF long form pieces are made up of short jams or tunes recorded quite quickly to a beat or click in various tempos and key signatures then arranged in a more free form manner but I'd much rather be doing it more if not entirely live on the fly which is where I'm trying to get to.
                              Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

                              Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

                              Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

                              Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

                              Comment

                              • amidar
                                Lonely Jelly
                                • Jun 2014
                                • 3722

                                #45
                                This is the result of all those improvisations and about 10 more I did using generative music software on a Tesco windows 10 tablet with guitar and bass layered up in one take tracks in my DAW, exported as .wav files and then finally joined together into a longer mix with a bit of spoken word and the odd old record sample but not much it's mainly material I made. I did a shorter one on my bandcamp which I did first but it follows on nicely from this one, anyway I made a trippy video again. :

                                 
                                Mixes, Music: https://www.mixcloud.com/amitron_7/

                                Music: https://blackmoofou.bandcamp.com/

                                Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1...bw92ZSjvLMZKlQ

                                Latest Infant Project: https://soundcloud.com/bcmf

                                Comment

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